Saturday, 7 December 2024
Christmassy Cross Stitch
A little thing I made using a cross stitch kit I purchased from Hobbycraft a few weeks ago. I know I usually do my own designs, but I wanted something not so serious/ fun to do on the side. Plus I do quite like getting myself these little cross stitch kits from time to time as it feels like a nice, relaxing, cosy activity. I decided to make it circular and use some felt to back it, which I attached using a blanket stitch. So it's now a Christmas decoration- the felt backing was red and I used gold thread for the border, so it definitely gives Christmassy vibes! I have a few more ideas for some embroidery projects in the works, so watch this space as usual, though likely not for a little while...
Short Film: Update #11 getting back on track (again)!!
You can probably tell by the optimism in the title that the film is going a little better than last week… I came back to it on Monday with fresh eyes (as I said I would) after having had a couple of days off from it over the weekend. I did a little further editing, then exported it again and watched it through and wow, it’s so much better! It’s a lot more aligned with the story I want to tell, but without any of the bagginess of the previous versions. The clarity is almost there- yes there are still a few tweaks I feel I’ll need to do such as adding a scene here and there, where there are gaps, but on the whole, it is much, much better.
I actually feel full on excited about it again and I’m extremely motivated to continue with it. Which probably explains why I had such a productive week: I did some more filming, animated a few shots and tied up a few loose ends on a couple of other shots which previously I hadn’t quite finished in full.
I didn’t expect to go into this week and film anything, but I felt fresh and therefore needed to strike when the iron was hot and get on with it. I’m really pleased with the footage I got, too- I must admit I actually quite like the acting I did in one of the shots, if I should say so myself! I plan on editing what I have over the weekend and then hopefully have animated all of those shots in full by this time next week- we shall see…
I also have more of a fixed deadline in mind now actually, which is end of Feb/ start of March next year. Which gives me 3 months. Eek!! It might be a little too tight and I am not going to rush it if it gets near the deadline if I’m still way off. There’s a ridiculous amount to get done, such as colour and backgrounds, voice records and sound design/ score, plus compositing etc. And to finish animating the outlines, of course! But that’s the date when some of the festivals I want to submit to close their cheaper submission rates. And as a person who has created this film independent of any funding, cutting costs down such as festival submissions is an important factor to consider. Submission fees really do add up and to be honest, I kind of loathe paying them as it’s a complete gamble whether your film gets in anyway, so often it’s just money wasted. Yes, of course I believe in the work I create and always think positively that my films will get in, but being realistic, myself and I expect a lot of other filmmakers, have more rejections than success when it comes to submitting to festivals. That’s just the way it is. Lot’s of the time, it doesn’t even reflect the quality of your film- it might just be down to programming or something like that.
I know you don’t have to submit to festivals at all and you can just upload it online or something, but I’d hate to put all this time and effort into making my film, for it to get 235 views on YouTube. I have a fairly small online following, so for it to break through organically is not that likely (again, not trying to sound super negative here- just speaking rationally). At least with festivals, there’s a chance of potential collaborators/ producers/ funders seeing it and liking what you do, which could lead to positive things in the future. My goal after this is to make my feature film, so if this film does well at festivals, then it opens up my chances of realistically looking into funding options for that.
I’ll add a few images below as there’s been a lot of words here. At first, it was actually a quite minimal post in that respect, but then I remembered I should mention the potential deadline I have in mind and then my hands couldn’t stop typing! I’ll also chuck in my Spotify wrapped while I’m about it, so you can see what kind of music I listen to while I animate!
These first two are from the footage I shot this week. PSA: hospital gowns are not warm- and I must have been in it for at least two hours at a time. But I suppose being so cold probably spurred me on to getting the footage quicker as I just wanted to get the clips done and then some warm clothes on!
And below is the rotoscoped outlines of the 3D fan I modelled several weeks ago which I (at long last) got round to animating:
...And then, I give you Spotify wrapped:
See you next time xo
I actually feel full on excited about it again and I’m extremely motivated to continue with it. Which probably explains why I had such a productive week: I did some more filming, animated a few shots and tied up a few loose ends on a couple of other shots which previously I hadn’t quite finished in full.
I also have more of a fixed deadline in mind now actually, which is end of Feb/ start of March next year. Which gives me 3 months. Eek!! It might be a little too tight and I am not going to rush it if it gets near the deadline if I’m still way off. There’s a ridiculous amount to get done, such as colour and backgrounds, voice records and sound design/ score, plus compositing etc. And to finish animating the outlines, of course! But that’s the date when some of the festivals I want to submit to close their cheaper submission rates. And as a person who has created this film independent of any funding, cutting costs down such as festival submissions is an important factor to consider. Submission fees really do add up and to be honest, I kind of loathe paying them as it’s a complete gamble whether your film gets in anyway, so often it’s just money wasted. Yes, of course I believe in the work I create and always think positively that my films will get in, but being realistic, myself and I expect a lot of other filmmakers, have more rejections than success when it comes to submitting to festivals. That’s just the way it is. Lot’s of the time, it doesn’t even reflect the quality of your film- it might just be down to programming or something like that.
I know you don’t have to submit to festivals at all and you can just upload it online or something, but I’d hate to put all this time and effort into making my film, for it to get 235 views on YouTube. I have a fairly small online following, so for it to break through organically is not that likely (again, not trying to sound super negative here- just speaking rationally). At least with festivals, there’s a chance of potential collaborators/ producers/ funders seeing it and liking what you do, which could lead to positive things in the future. My goal after this is to make my feature film, so if this film does well at festivals, then it opens up my chances of realistically looking into funding options for that.
I’ll add a few images below as there’s been a lot of words here. At first, it was actually a quite minimal post in that respect, but then I remembered I should mention the potential deadline I have in mind and then my hands couldn’t stop typing! I’ll also chuck in my Spotify wrapped while I’m about it, so you can see what kind of music I listen to while I animate!
These first two are from the footage I shot this week. PSA: hospital gowns are not warm- and I must have been in it for at least two hours at a time. But I suppose being so cold probably spurred me on to getting the footage quicker as I just wanted to get the clips done and then some warm clothes on!
Sunday, 1 December 2024
Short Film: Update #10 averting crisis | changing direction
Gooooood morning! Or whenever you are reading this and happy December!
As speculated last week, I have pretty much finished the majority of what I can animate for the while, without filming further footage. There’s little point putting the screen grab of my tracking spreadsheet up this week, as to be honest, not much new stuff was done- there were only a couple new shots completed.
I exported the film thus far on Thursday morning- so that was a combination of all the animated shots, coupled with the animatic/ storyboard. So it was about 50% animated and the other, just static images. And I was not happy. The story felt extremely disjointed and didn’t make an awful lot of sense. I honestly felt like giving up and/ or scrapping it, or making something else with the footage, or changing direction completely. All of which, I appreciate, are pretty drastic measures!
But it was great to have picked up on all that at this current stage, rather than having filmed and animated everything as per my storyboard, only to realise that many shots would need to be cut and it would have been a whole lot of time wasted. Some shots which I had already animated I have deleted, but luckily it’s not been many and some, I’ve been able to salvage/ repurpose in different areas of the film.
This feeling of disappointment after the export has sort of been a ‘blessing is disguise’ (I hate that term, but not sure what else to call it) if you like. It’s made me become more critical (in a good way) of the story I’m trying to tell and made me have a lesser attachment to certain shots/ scenes/ scenarios which I had liked previously and wanted to keep in for one reason or another. This can only be a good thing. I really want the film to work and tell a good, relatable and cohesive story, and with such a strong desire to achieve this goal, I have been happy to cut/ change/ edit my film, until it satisfies my aim of creating a solid short.
Since exporting, I’ve been extremely ruthless cutting scenes and shots which don’t work/ fit and had a bit of a rethink how I can go about the rest: mocking up several scenes and writing/ sketching out what else needs to be done. After having done this, I feel a lot better than I did about it the other day, knowing that the film does hold potential and if I put in the hard work, then I can turn it around. I’m going to give it a bit of a break over the weekend, while I go and enjoy some football watching, taking my mind off it all and come back tomorrow morning with fresh eyes and a fresh mind.
Come on Flora, you can do it!!
Remember I put an outlines clip up last week? Well I decided to give it a mocked up temp background, so I could stick it on my socials (still in two minds about how much I want to be engaging on Instagram these days, but whatevs) and also kind of take in and appreciate all the work I have put into it so far. Which shouldn’t be glazed over- creating a film by oneself like this is no small feat! It also gives me a glimpse of how my film could end up looking once complete and acts as a little motivational tool to encourage me to carry on and keep at it, especially when you can see some sort of results/ reward for what you have put in.
And finally, the usual bit of AOB in this blog, as I’m sure you all look forward to reading(!)- I performed my poetry again for the first time since 2019! I had been meaning to get back into this for a while, especially since moving to Sheffield last year, but had never got round to it before now. It was when I learned of a new spoken word open mic night at The Showroom Cinema, was when I thought, well I’m familiar with that venue (and I like it), so I signed myself up. I did this in advance, so I couldn’t bottle it on the day and you know what, I am so pleased that I went! I had such a brilliant time and met some super lovely people and heard some great stuff performed- all in different styles. A wonderful mix.
I can’t lie, I was pretty nervous in the lead up, but that all settled down once I started performing. And I’m quite looking forward to going again- not just for the performance side of things, but also because it was such a nice event. It’s also given me a good reason to start writing again- if I can aim for one new poem each month (as it’s a monthly event), then that would be excellent…
As speculated last week, I have pretty much finished the majority of what I can animate for the while, without filming further footage. There’s little point putting the screen grab of my tracking spreadsheet up this week, as to be honest, not much new stuff was done- there were only a couple new shots completed.
I exported the film thus far on Thursday morning- so that was a combination of all the animated shots, coupled with the animatic/ storyboard. So it was about 50% animated and the other, just static images. And I was not happy. The story felt extremely disjointed and didn’t make an awful lot of sense. I honestly felt like giving up and/ or scrapping it, or making something else with the footage, or changing direction completely. All of which, I appreciate, are pretty drastic measures!
But it was great to have picked up on all that at this current stage, rather than having filmed and animated everything as per my storyboard, only to realise that many shots would need to be cut and it would have been a whole lot of time wasted. Some shots which I had already animated I have deleted, but luckily it’s not been many and some, I’ve been able to salvage/ repurpose in different areas of the film.
This feeling of disappointment after the export has sort of been a ‘blessing is disguise’ (I hate that term, but not sure what else to call it) if you like. It’s made me become more critical (in a good way) of the story I’m trying to tell and made me have a lesser attachment to certain shots/ scenes/ scenarios which I had liked previously and wanted to keep in for one reason or another. This can only be a good thing. I really want the film to work and tell a good, relatable and cohesive story, and with such a strong desire to achieve this goal, I have been happy to cut/ change/ edit my film, until it satisfies my aim of creating a solid short.
Since exporting, I’ve been extremely ruthless cutting scenes and shots which don’t work/ fit and had a bit of a rethink how I can go about the rest: mocking up several scenes and writing/ sketching out what else needs to be done. After having done this, I feel a lot better than I did about it the other day, knowing that the film does hold potential and if I put in the hard work, then I can turn it around. I’m going to give it a bit of a break over the weekend, while I go and enjoy some football watching, taking my mind off it all and come back tomorrow morning with fresh eyes and a fresh mind.
Come on Flora, you can do it!!
Remember I put an outlines clip up last week? Well I decided to give it a mocked up temp background, so I could stick it on my socials (still in two minds about how much I want to be engaging on Instagram these days, but whatevs) and also kind of take in and appreciate all the work I have put into it so far. Which shouldn’t be glazed over- creating a film by oneself like this is no small feat! It also gives me a glimpse of how my film could end up looking once complete and acts as a little motivational tool to encourage me to carry on and keep at it, especially when you can see some sort of results/ reward for what you have put in.
I can’t lie, I was pretty nervous in the lead up, but that all settled down once I started performing. And I’m quite looking forward to going again- not just for the performance side of things, but also because it was such a nice event. It’s also given me a good reason to start writing again- if I can aim for one new poem each month (as it’s a monthly event), then that would be excellent…
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